Improving People’s Participation In Local Development Project: A Case of Urban Local Government in Oromia-Ethiopia

Abstract

Despite the prominence given to participatory development in National Urban Development Policy 2005, a people-centered development culture akin to participation is yet to take root in urban Oromia. This study takes a fresh look at local governance and the level of people participation in the development process. The purpose of this paper is to examine the extent and status of people participation in the local development project cycle in Oromia Regional State relying on the knowledge from the closing of the ULGDP^[1] as a case study. To achieve this, primary data were collected using a survey from the selected urban households and secondary data were collected from reports and books. Appropriate descriptive and analytical tools were employed to process the data obtained. The results of the study show that the extent and status of people’s participation in identifying problems, implementation and evaluation of the activity and its outcomes were still negligible and not institutionalized. The study found that administrative obstacles such as bureaucracy and lack of regard for local people greatly hindered community participation in development efforts and that it is equally as important for a meaningful participation, for people to know about the project as it is for them to be recognized and acknowledged. The study concludes with a recommendation for a massive awareness program to be conducted by government in partnership with local Community Based Organizations (CBOs) working closely with the poor and the disadvantaged. Enactment of participation friendly guidelines can also promote and encourage participation.

Keywords - development project, people participation, and urban local government

[1] Urban Local Government Development Project launched in 2008.